January 16, 2013

If you would call the police in this situation, would it be because that's the sort of honest, upright person you are or would it be because it was broad daylight and the bills weren't in a neat little bundle but spread out on the snow, in which case the activity of picking them up risks: 1. making you look suspicious (and somebody might call the cops on you), and 2. other people showing up and competing with you in the pickup (in which case, you might need police protection and you want to be the one to get your name on the found-money claim)?

I would not call the police. I'd collect all the money, then I'd call the police, and keep the money in my possession at all times (well, I'd probably bank it). If someone went to the police and reported losing it, the police would have my cell number.

If no one claims the money after a reasonable period of time can she keep the money? Madman if you deposit over $9,999 in cash the bank reports the money to the IRS. The woman was probably right by notifying the police and handing it over pending someone claiming it. But then again the cops could come up with some civil forfeiture claim.

Trusting government officaldom is a mental illness. If you give it to the cops, someone (not you) will find a way to take it by hook, crook or technicality. Don't be a sucker - it encourages corruption. Take it home, and the story ends there. If you want to do the right, thing then use the money to do that.

"Trusting government officaldom is a mental illness. If you give it to the cops, someone (not you) will find a way to take it by hook, crook or technicality. Don't be a sucker - it encourages corruption. Take it home, and the story ends there. If you want to do the right, thing then use the money to do that."

At the point where you're looking at all those bills, strewn across the snow in broad daylight, planning that far ahead and mistrusting the cops is probably not where you will go.

This woman's story is in the news, and everyone wants her to get the money. I think she made the right choice in assessing risks and getting to keep the money in the end. We all want her to have it and we are watching.

How often does this happen -- that no one claims the money? I know I'm a huge old cynic, but I'm just thinking a Police Relative shows up near the end of the time period, IDs the cash exactly, and claims it. Or you are told it's been claimed, when it really has been taken by the Police Union for Benevolent Activities.

bagoh, having lived in Chicago I would agree w/ you in part. However, for all the shortcomings in Madison I think the cops here can be trusted on this. I would not have given the money to Chicago Police, I would give it to Madison Police.

I found a wallet on the sidewalk in front of my house a couple years ago. The ID said it belonged to a young man from Utah. Rather than turn it in to the police, I Googled his name and found an email address. I sent him an email message and he was able to come pick up the wallet. He was visiting a friend and had placed his wallet on top of a car, then driven off. Tracking him down was a fun piece of detective work. No, I didn't accept his offer of a reward because he needed the money more than I did.

" planning that far ahead and mistrusting the cops is probably not where you will go"

I have planned all this stuff out in advance. I practice picking up loose bills weekly, so that my movements are almost imperceptible. It looks like I'm tying my shoe, or sometimes with larger drops I appear to trip, fall down, and roll around in pain, but I'm actually rolling in dough.

It's not that cops are not trustworthy in general, it's just the wide web of people who will know about it, and the justifications they also will come up with for keeping it. Everybody has good reasons for keeping that money, and possession is 9/10ths.